I’m not particularly skilled at Bonsai, as you’ll note from my collection below, but I’m learning. It’s a fun combination of biology, aesthetics, and patience.
Resources
Here are some of the most useful resources I’ve found most useful in learning Bonsai:
https://www.youtube.com/c/bonsaify – San Francisco-based bonsai grower and educator. Eric has great styling taste and a ton of knowledge.
https://www.youtube.com/@BonsaiMirai – Mirai has some great in-depth videos on beginner topics as well as more advanced videos on: soil, fertilizer use, wiring, pruning, tree specifics. I haven’t checked out his paid membership for Mirai Live yet, but likely will at some point.
Bonsai Heresy book – this book covers a lot of intermediate topics and is easy/fun to read. I’d probably wait to get it until you’ve figured out some basics of keeping plants alive though, it’s can be a bit overwhelming to see how complex everything can get when just beginning.
My Trees
Schefflera arboricola
Acquired 1999 – Hawaiian Umbrella Tree
2020: This is my oldest bonsai, but other than keeping it alive, I haven’t done much with it. It almost died in 2020 (likely due to not getting any fertilizer for years). Luckily this brush with near-death also triggered me deciding to actually learn more about how to grow and take care of bonsai trees.
I recently took a cutting from this one to propagate more of them, so we’ll see where that goes.
RIP Trees
Jaboticaba
Acquired 2017 (RIP 2021)
This one was the first bonsai where I started to think about shaping and do some intentional pruning. It nearly died after I went on vacation and a friend forgot to water it. I’ve had some trouble getting the top to grow vigorously since then, but it’s a work in progress.
This picture is from a repotting in 2021. I should have done it earlier, as the solid it was in as not conducive to good root development. Fingers crossed the new bonsai soil it’s in works out. (edit: it did not survive, I think I should have cut back more of the top part of the tree when I pruned the roots, to relieve the need to feed as much foliage with the smaller roots).
